Ohio State Football: Spring Checklist for Urban Meyer, Buckeyes

Top 10 recruiting classes, 24 wins and a perfect season—life has been great to Urban Meyer and Ohio State over his first two years at the helm of the Buckeyes program. However, life on easy street is over for Meyer and Co.

Yes, Braxton Miller is still around, and there is a ton of talent on the Buckeyes squad. However, Ohio State is facing life without a proven running back, four offensive line starters, its best defensive player and many components to its defensive backfield.

Never before has an offseason in Columbus meant so much to Urban Meyer. So, as the Buckeyes stare their biggest challenge under Meyer in the face, what must OSU solve this spring?

Here’s a quick checklist of what needs to happen for spring to lead to fall success.

Do the Running Back Shuffle

The 2013-14 season produced the first 1,000-yard back in Urban Meyer head coaching history. What Carlos Hyde accomplished in just 10 games of action will be remembered as one of the best feats by a Buckeye back in the last decade at least.

However, Hyde is graduating to the NFL, and that means finding a replacement. The good news is that Ohio State has seemingly been stockpiling talent forever at this position. It’s also the bad news, because it means that there aren’t a lot of carries to make your point with in spring.

Last season, freshman Ezekiel Elliott, he of the 6’0″, 210-pound variety, showed he’s got some skill to possibly take over the position…